Sedima, S.P.R.L. v. Imrex Co., 473 U.S. 479 (1985)

Supreme Court decision of July 1, 1985 holding that a private civil RICO plaintiff need not show a prior criminal conviction or a separate "racketeering injury"; "RICO is to be read broadly."

Date

1985-07-01

Kind

court-opinion

Source

CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States

Retrieved

2026-10-12

Docket

473 U.S. 479 (1985), No. 84-648

Rights

Opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, a federal work in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. CourtListener (Free Law Project) hosts the text; it is not the source institution.

Decided July 1, 1985; No. 84-648. Sedima sued under the private civil action in 18 U.S.C. 1964(c) for treble damages for alleged mail and wire fraud. The Second Circuit had required a prior criminal conviction on the predicate acts and a distinct “racketeering injury”.

The Court rejected both requirements. “The language of RICO gives no obvious indication that a civil action can proceed only after a criminal conviction.” (473 U.S. at 488.) “RICO is to be read broadly.” (473 U.S. at 497.) The opinion notes that section 1962 makes conduct unlawful for “any person” — “not just mobsters”.

The majority also acknowledged that “in its private civil version, RICO is evolving into something quite different from the original conception of its enactors”, and said of the use of private suits against legitimate businesses that “this defect — if defect it is — is inherent in the statute as written, and its correction must lie with Congress.” The facts involve a commercial dispute, not organized crime.